IK Monitor Networks (8-3)

Indigenous Knowledge and Development Monitor, November 2000

Contents IK Monitor (8-3) | IKDM Homepage | Suggestions to: ikdm@nuffic.nl | © copyright Nuffic-CIRAN and contributors 2000.

Networks

MERALVIS

Meralvis (a Spanish acronym for 'Mejorando al desarrollo rural regional a través de la conservación de la vida silvestre'), also known as Improving Regional Rural Development through Wildlife Conservation, is a recently founded virtual NGO formed by biologists, veterinarians, agronomists, rural civil engineers and agroforestry professionals devoted to applied research and rural development in cooperation with peasants and indigenous actors in Central America. Meralvis's mission is to empower Central American rural communities through the interchange and production of information about current trends and issues in biodiversity and wildlife conservation. Meralvis's main goals are:

to encourage consideration for wildlife and biodiversity conservation in day-to-day practice by facilitating workshops, short courses, discussion and other ways of directly involving the key actors in Central America, which are the rural communities. Meralvis's work with these people is based on respect for the individual and for his or her group's preferences and capacities, and respect for intellectual property rights. For example, a series of workshops on the subject of chicken production was held between September 1999 and June 2000 for Huétares women in Quitirrisi, Costa Rica.
to conduct scientific, participatory research on topics pertaining to biodiversity conservation and sustainable wildlife management, and to publicize the findings at international conferences and symposia. For example, a study has been done on the presence and use of wildlife in an indigenous Ngöbe community in Costa Rica, and a project dealing with human and wildlife interaction has been conducted in a Bribrí community, also in Costa Rica.
to approach and actively network with individuals and organizations who share Meralvis's focus and are involved either in developing rural knowledge, conserving biodiversity, or studying wildlife issues in Latin America and elsewhere. Meralvis will choose an open approach aimed at continuity and mutual respect.

At present, Meralvis is only a very small organization. It has a staff of three persons: Deborah Leal, a Brazilian veterinarian with a master's degree in agroforestry, who has worked with cultures and traditional home-gardens in indigenous and rural communities; Fabricio Carbonell, a Peruvian agronomist with a master's degree in conservation and wildlife management, who began to work with indigenous knowledge seven years ago; and Isa Torrealba, a Venezuelan biologist with a master's degree in wildlife management and further training in management and project formulation, who has ten years of experience working with rural communities in Central America. All three are now residing in Costa Rica, which is considered to be a good place for developing Meralvis's goals. Their vision is to promote Meralvis and make it into a regionally recognized organization to which peasants as well as scientists and development workers can turn for help with community development projects and research dealing with wildlife. The ultimate goal is to achieve ecologically sound biodiversity conservation in the subtropics.

As a new, virtual organization, Meralvis is managing to keep overhead and administrative costs very low. A website is of course crucial for achieving the goals Meralvis has set, and that website is now under construction. Staff, contributors and sympathisers are looking for funds to make its completion possible. Meralvis is also looking for funds for the continuation of a project called 'Fauna use and conservation by Central American indigenous people'.
For more information please contact: maralvis@yahoo.com or send a letter to Meralvis, P.O. Box 1854-3000, Heredia, Costa Rica.